Arizona's Sun-Powered Train Proposal - "The Solar Bullet"

"The solar train could travel from Tucson to Phoenix in 30 minutes and might someday run from Nogales to the Grand Canyon." Image credit: excerpted from image provided by Daily Star.

The solar powered mag-lev train proposal we wrote about in Magnetic Train Proposed: Detroit To Lansing Michigan ...seemed too technologically elaborate and expensive to be realistic. How about just bring back the level of train service that was once the norm - and upgrade existing rails to get the trains back on time - was the general reaction?

A solar train in Arizona seems somehow more sensible. Especially because it does not involve superconducting magnets and hydrogen batteries. Read on and see what you think.AzStarBus explains the design concept in their story: High-speed solar train proposed as Tucson-Phoenix connection

The idea is to start a train system that connects Tucson and Phoenix in a first phase. In the future it would extend north to Grand Canyon and south to Nogales. The cost for the first phase alone is estimated at $27 billion.

It could start operating in 2018.

Retired civil engineer Bill Gaither and business partner Raymond Wright set up Solar Bullet LLC in Tucson in hopes of designing and building the 220 mph solar bullet train, which would run on four tracks...The train would require 110 megawatts of electricity and would operate with solar power generated from overhead panels. It would have a dedicated right-of-way.